Batch cooking doesn't have to mean a whole Sunday in the kitchen and a freezer full of identical tubs nobody wants by Thursday. The version that works for most families is smaller: cook one or two big bases, turn each into a few different dinners, and freeze a portion for the night everything goes wrong.

The quick answer

• Cook one or two bases, not seven meals
• Turn each base into different dinners, so nobody feels like they're eating the same thing all week
• Freeze a portion or two for the busiest nights
• Cool, store and reheat safely, and label everything with the date

One base, three dinners

The trick that makes batch cooking stick is cooking a base, not a finished meal. A base is something that works in several different dinners, so the week has variety without extra cooking. Here are four that go a long way:

• A rich tomato and meat or lentil sauce: pasta one night, a baked potato topping the next, then a chilli or a lasagne
• A tray of roast chicken: a roast dinner, then wraps or quesadillas, then a soup or a pie
• A big pot of spiced chickpeas or beans: a curry with rice, then a filling for flatbreads, then a soup
• A tray of roasted vegetables: a side one night, blitzed into a pasta sauce the next, then a frittata or a grain bowl

Pick one base for the week to start. Once that feels easy, add a second.

Plan the week around it

Batch cooking works best when you know which nights need it. Look at the week first: the late finishes, the clubs, the evenings nobody's home until seven. Those are the nights for the base, or for something from the freezer. The quieter nights can take a fresh meal.

One shop, one session

Check the freezer and cupboards first, then build one shopping list for the base and the week's other meals. In Petal Home, a recipe's ingredients go onto the shared shopping list in a couple of taps, and you untick anything you already have first. With Premium, you can add the whole week's ingredients at once.

When it's time to cook, use everything at once: the oven for the roast or the vegetables, a big pan for the sauce, a slow cooker if you have one. An hour or so of cooking can cover several dinners. Put on some music and get whoever's around to help with the chopping.

Store and reheat it safely

A few simple habits keep batch cooking safe:

• Cool it quickly: divide food into smaller, shallow containers and get it into the fridge or freezer within one to two hours
• Label everything: what it is and the date, on every container
• Follow the food-safety guidance where you live for how long to keep leftovers in the fridge, and if you won't eat them in time, freeze them instead
• Defrost in the fridge, or in the microwave if you're going to cook or reheat it straight away, rather than leaving it out at room temperature
• Reheat until steaming hot all the way through, and only reheat each portion once

Cooked rice needs extra care: cool it as quickly as possible, ideally within one hour, keep it in the fridge, use it within 24 hours, and only reheat it once, until steaming hot. If in doubt, cook rice fresh on the night.